Bottle cap



March 26, 1,929.

E. S. CHURCH BOTTLE CAP Original Filed Marh 5, 1927 2 Sheets-sheaf, 1

March 2 1929.

' E. s. CHURCH BOTTLE CAP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed March 5, 1927Patented Mar. 26, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,706,561 PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND S. CHURCH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO THE TILT-TOP CAPCOH- IEANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ACOBPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BOTTLE C AP.

Application filed March 5, 1927, Serial No. 172,956. Renewed July 9,1928.

The invention relates to bottle caps and more particularly to that typewhich is provided with a corrugated skirt or flange which i tion is toprovide a cap of this type which will be securely held on the bottle andwhich may be easily pried oil when force is applied at a certain orpredetermined portion of the skirt.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cap of this characterhaving a stiffened tongue which is formed'integrally with the skirt andis operable by means of'the fingers to pry the cap off the bottle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle cap which is ofnew and improved construction and may be produced at a low cost.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following detaileddescription.

The invention consists in the several novel features hereinafter setforth and more particularly defined by the claims at the conclusionhereof.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective of a cap embodying theinvention before it has been applied to a bottle. Fig. 2 is a verticalsection of a device for applying the cap to a bottle. Fig. 3 is asection showingthe die member of the capping device in its operativeposition, the upper portion and plunger of the device being omitted.Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sideelevation of the cap after it has been applied to the bottle. Fig. 6 isa section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig.6 showing the tongue after it has been swung away from the bottle asuflicient distance to withdraw from the groove in the bottle neck, theindentations on the portion of the skirt which is contiguousto thetongue. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the cap showing the tongue swungfarther away from the bottle so as to withdraw from the groove theindentations on the skirt which are at the sides of the tongue. Fig. 9is a section taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

The invention is exemplified in a cap which is out from a sheet metalblank and then bent to form a top 10 and an integral depending flaredskirt or flange ll'having a tongue 12 integrally formed at one sidethereof. The skirt is provided with an annular series of corrugations 13which extends from the middle thereof to the outer edge and consists ofalternating crowns 14 and indentations 15.

The latter are adapted to fit in an annular groove 16' 111 the neck of abottle 16 to secure the cap on the bottle. The tongue is formed withreinforcing ribs 17 therein. These ribs the groove to permit removal ofthe cap.

Ribs 17 extend to the outer edge of the tongue so that the latter isreinforced throughout its entire length. The crowns 14 on portion 18extend to the edge of top 10 so that the portion ltself will not bendwhen "swung outwardly by the tongue 12. During such movement the metalat .the sides of portion 18 is expanded, as shown in Figs. 7, 8 and9,'and the indentations between the crowns at the sides of said portionare drawn away from the groove. To facilitate this expansion so that thetonguev and portion 18 may be easily swung outwardly and to permit themetal to readily expand throughout the entire width of the skirt, one ormore of the crowns at each side of portion 18 are extended, as at 14, tothe edge of top 10. A sheet 19 of cork or any other suitable material issecured to the inner face of the top to form a hermetical seal forbottle 16 and to protect the contents of the bottle from contact withthe metal of the cap.

The cap is applied to bottle 16 by any sultable capping device, such forexample as the one shown (Fig. 2)' which comprises a hollow die member20 which has a cylindrical inner wall 20 the lower end of which isflared slightly outwardly as at 20"; a retaining head 21 in which thedie member is mounted; and an abutment member or plunger 22 which isslidably mounted in member 20 and is adapted to engage the top 10 of thecap and force strip 19 into firm contact with the mouth of the bottle.Plunger 22 is provided with a stem 23 which extends upwardly through diemember 20 and is provided atits upper end with a pair of nuts 24. one ofwhich abuts against the die member to limit the downward movement, ofthe plunger. A spring 25 is applied to yieldingly and forcibly hold theplunger init's lowermost position. This spring extends around stem 22and between plnnger22 and a shoulder 20" on die member 20. r

The capping device is operated by relative movement between the bottleand member 20, which may be imparted to the bottle or said member in anysuitable manner as well understood in the art. During this movement theflared portion 20 of the inner wall of die member 20 engages the outeredge and crowns 14 of the skirt and forces theminwardly. This causes theindentations 15 to be imbed-ded in groove 1(3 to securely lock the capin place. As the movennmt continues the cylindrical wall comes intocontact with the crowns and crushes them slightly. This in effectcondenses the metal of the indentations so that it is diflicult towithdraw the latter from groove 16". I

In practice it has been found that if the extended crowns at the sidesof portion 18 are crushed by the die member, they will not expandreadily. It has also been found that if the crowns on portions 18 arecrushed, the connection between the portion and tongue 12 is weakened.To avoid crushing these crowns when the cap is applied to the bottle,the inner wall 20 of the die member is slotted, as at 20 to formpocket-s into which the extended crowns fit during the cappingoperation.

A characteristic of securing the cap on the bottle by the capping devicehaving the slots 20 therein is that the portion 18' and the corrugatedmetal at the sides of the tongue 12 are pressed into the groove 16 lessthan the remainder of the corrugated metal. Thus the tongue 12 may bereadily swung away from the bottle and the removal of the cap isfacilitated.

When the cap is to be removed from the bottle, tongue 12 will be graspedby the fingers aml swung outwardly and upwardly. During the initialmovement of the tongue, portion 18 which is rigid with the tongue,swings outwardly and withdraws the indentations therein from the groove16", as shown in Fig. 7 and by dotted lines in Fig. 5. As the tonguemoves farther away from the bottle, the extended crowns at the sides ofportion 18 stretch or expand outwardly due to the movement of theportion and draw the indentations between them away from the groove,

. The force necessary to remove the cap may be varied by increasing ordecreasing the number of extended crowns at the sides of portion 18. Ifthe number is increased then av greater number of imlentations will be.pulled away from the groove during the .expanding 0t these crowns andthe force required to' remove the cap is relatively small. It the numberis decreased, then the number of indentations which remain imbedded inthe groove is increased and the force required to remove the cap isrelatively large.

The invention exemplifies a bottle cap of the corrugated skirt type,which is provided with improved means whereby it may be readily removedfrom the bottle.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details setforth, since these may be modified within the scope of the appendedclaims, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof, asheet metal cap con'iprising a top and an integral continuous flangedepending from the top and having a substantially continuous annularseries of corrugations pressed into the groove, so that the cap will besecured on the bottle by the inner crowns of substantially all of thecorrugations, some of the corrugations being pressed less than others torender them more readily expansible than the others and to permit themto be more easily spread by the upward flexing of the flange.

2. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof asheet metal cap comprising a top and an integral continuous flangedepending from the top and having a substantially continuous annularseries of corrugations pressed into the groove, so that the cap will besecured on the bottle by the inner crowns of all of the corrugations,some of the corrugations being under less com pression than others torender them more easily expansible and facilitate their spreading by theupward flexing of the flange.

3. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof, asheet metal cap comprising a top, a continuous integral flange dependingfrom the top and having a substantially continuous annular series ofcorrugations pressed into the groove, so that the cap will be secured onthe bottle by the inner crowns of substantially allthe corrugations, andmeans depending from the flange adapted to be manually gripped to prythe cap from the bottle, the corrugations contiguous to the sides ofsaid means being mbre readily expansible than others to permit them tobe spread by the upward flexing of said means.

4. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof, asheet metal cap comprising a top, an integral continuous flangedepending from the top and having a substantially continuous annularseries of I, inner crowns of substantially all of the corrugations, andmeans depending from the flange adapted to be manually gripped to prythe cap from the bottle, the corrugations contiguous to the sides ofsaid means being under less compression than others to facilitate theexpansion of'the flange by the lifting of said means.

5. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof, asheet metal cap comprising a top an integral continuous flange dependingrom the top and an integral tongu depending from the flange, the flangeand tongue having a substantially continuous series of substantiallyparallel corrugations therein, when the cap is applied to the bottle,the inner crowns of all of said corrugations being pressed into thegroove of the bottle to secure substantially all portions of the capthereon, portions of the flange being more easily expansible than othersto facilitate theremoval of the cap from the bottle by the lifting ofthe tongue.

6. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof, asheet metal cap comprising a top, an integral flange depending from thetop and having a substantially continuous annular series of corrugationspressed into the groove so that the cap will be secured onthe bottle bythe inner crowns of substantially all the corrugations, and

means depending from the flange adapted to be manually gripped to prythe cap from the bottle, the corrugations contiguous to the sides ofsaid means being compressed less than others and extended above thecrowns of other of thecorrugations of the flange so that they willspread more easily by the upward flexing of said means in the removal ofthe cap from the bottle,

7. In combination with a bottle having a groove in the neck thereof,asheet metal cap comprising a top, an integral continuous flangedepending from the top and having a substantially continuous annularseries of corrugations pressed into the groove so that the cap will besecured on the bottle by the inner crowns of all of the corrugations,and a tongue depending from and integral with the flange adapted to bemanually gripped to pry the cap from the bottle and having continuationsof the corrugations in the flange, the corrugations adjacent the sidesof the tongue extending above and being more easil expansible than othercorrugations of the ange so they will expand easily by the upwardflexing of the tongue in the removal of the cap from the bottle, thecontinuing corrugations of the flange and tongue extending substantiallyto the top.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 28th day of February, 1927.

EDMUND s. cannon.

